经济学人下载:《间谍集团》书评--希特勒元首的间谍在曼哈顿(1)

Books & arts
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Book review
书评

Espionage
间谍

The Fuhrer’s man in Manhattan 

希特勒元首的间谍在曼哈顿

Ring of Spies.
《间谍集团》

By Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones.
作者：罗德里·杰弗里斯—琼斯

As Germany pursued its territorial expansion in 1938, many Americans wanted nothing more than to be left alone.President Franklin Roosevelt had signed three neutrality acts forbidding involvement in Europe’s troubles. Of the fears that kept his compatriots awake, Hitler was eclipsed by mobsters, dust bowls and unemployment. This was to change, explains Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones in his new book, when the FBI’s unveiling of a Nazi spy ring poisoned relations with Germany and forced America to confront a hostile world.
1938年，德国进行领土扩张，而许多美国人只想着独善其身。富兰克林·罗斯福总统签署了三项中立法案，禁止卷入欧洲的麻烦。希特勒使德国被暴徒、尘暴和失业蚕食，这让他的同胞们陷入恐惧，无法安眠。这是要改变的，罗德里·杰弗里斯—琼斯在他的新书中解释道，当时联邦调查局揭发了纳粹间谍集团，这一举措败坏了美国与德国的关系，并迫使美国对抗一个充满敌意的世界。

A historian at Edinburgh University, Mr Jeffreys-Jones draws the reader in with thrilling, but initially disparate, tales of German espionage. The sense of Nazi audacity steadily rises. A widow with a penpal in Hamburg suddenly develops a penchant for photographing naval bases. A group of agents smuggle out secret documents as stamp-size pictures hidden in pocket-watches. Another cell plots to snatch mobilisation plans by subduing a colonel with a sedative-loaded fountain pen. Blueprints for American fighterplanes are stolen.
杰弗里斯—琼斯是爱丁堡大学的历史学家，他以激动人心、开头就与众不同的德国间谍故事来吸引读者。纳粹间谍集团的胆量稳步上升。一位在汉堡有笔友的寡妇突然对拍摄海军基地产生了兴趣。一群特工把秘密文件充作邮票大小的照片藏在怀表里偷运出来。他们还暗中谋划用装有镇静剂的钢笔制服一名上校，抢夺动员计划。美国战斗机的设计图也被偷了。

These pieces are gradually put together by Leon Turrou, the story’s fascinating central figure. A Jewish immigrant from Belarus, Turrou was an FBI agent who spent the 1930s fighting fascist and communist saboteurs with equal fervour. In 1938 he made the connections between the German spies, and tracked down a prime suspect.Ignatz Griebl ran a quiet medical practice in Manhattan, but his candid confession confirmed Turrou’s darkest fears (and unites the book’s scattered incidents):
这些间谍故事片段是由莱昂·图鲁逐渐拼凑起来的，他是这个故事中迷人的核心人物。图鲁是一名来自白俄罗斯的犹太移民，是一名联邦调查局探员，他在20世纪30年代以同样的热情与法西斯和共产主义破坏分子作斗争。1938年，他建立起了德国间谍之间的联系，并追查到了一位头号嫌犯。伊格纳茨·格里贝尔在曼哈顿经营着一家安静的医疗机构，但他的坦率供述证实了图鲁最黑暗的恐惧（并将书中零散的事件联系起来）：

Turrou: When did spy activities in this country start?
图鲁：在国家的间谍活动什么时候开始的？

Griebl: In 1933, soon after Hitler came to power.
格里贝尔：1933年，希特勒上台不久。

The reader, like Turrou in the dimly lit interrogation room, is suddenly daunted by the scale of the Nazi scheme.German diplomats cut Griebl loose, which helped turn him into an FBI informant. From that point on, the spy ring unravelled.
读者就像在昏暗的审讯室里的图鲁一样，突然被纳粹计划的规模吓坏了。德国外交官把格里贝尔放走了，这帮助他成为联邦调查局的线人。从那一刻起，这个间谍集团就被瓦解了。